The Kansas City Chiefs lost a heartbreaker Sunday afternoon, and the race for the AFC West is officially on. The Denver Broncos took sole possession of first place after erasing an 11-point fourth-quarter deficit. 

The Chiefs took the lead with just over six minutes left in the first quarter and held it until less than two minutes remained in the fourth. Kansas City then marched all the way down the field in an attempt to take it back, but a sack of Patrick Mahomes on fourth-and-goal from the Denver six as time expired ended all hope. 

Here are the biggest winners and losers from the 5-2 Chiefs in Week 8.

Winners

Emmett Johnson, Running Back

The rookie was the Chiefs' runaway MVP in this game, filling the stat sheet in several different ways. Emmett Johnson led Kansas City in receiving with five catches for 128 yards, including a 73-yard touchdown that gave the Chiefs a 14-6 lead. 

He carried the ball just once for 15 yards, but forced four missed tackles on that play alone, according to PFF. As a fifth-round pick from the 2026 NFL Draft, he is also a core special teams player, and he made his presence felt there, too.  

The former Nebraska Cornhusker recorded a tackle in kick coverage on the very next play after his touchdown and returned a kick 44 yards to set up the Chiefs’ final comeback attempt. On a day when the next-highest pass catcher had 67 yards and Kenneth Walker ran for just 69, Johnson’s impact was enormous.

Patrick Mahomes, Quarterback

Patrick Mahomes was not always perfect, but when you throw for over 300 yards and three touchdowns with no interceptions, it is a good day at the office. He made do with what he had, and what he has is well documented. 

He continues to play behind an undrafted backup left tackle, with Josh Simmons on IR. Left guard Kingsley Suamataia was once again benched in what was labeled a coach’s decision, and the wide receiver room leaves much to be desired. 

Rashee Rice returning gave him some easy yards, but the rest of the group did little. Cyrus Allen continued to earn trust, ranking third among receivers in snaps behind Rice and Xavier Worthy and catching two passes for 20 yards, both for first downs. Worthy, the receivers’ snap leader, caught three of six targets for just 13 yards. 

Mahomes’ wide receivers combined for only 90 of his 308 yards, with Rice accounting for 53 of them. He gave the team a chance right up until the end, when he took his second sack of the game.

George Karlaftis, Defensive End

George Karlaftis has been a mainstay in the winners column, and Sunday was no different. The stat that stood out most was three batted passes, some of which ended or stalled Denver’s drives. 

He sacked Bo Nix in the second quarter on what was actually a strip-sack, though Denver was able to fall on the ball. He is now the only Chiefs defender with multiple sacks this season.

These numbers can vary greatly, pending final review, but PFF counted just five pressures for defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo’s unit. It wasn't nearly good enough, especially in the fourth quarter, but Karlaftis continued to show why general manager Brett Veach extended the 25-year-old. 

Losers

Andy Reid and Harrison Butker

The Chiefs had all the momentum heading into the fourth quarter. The defense had forced three straight three-and-outs in the third, and Mahomes had just thrown his third touchdown to make it 24-13. The next two offensive drives cost them the game, and head coach Andy Reid made two decisions worth second-guessing. 

The first came at the top of the fourth quarter, when he punted on a fourth-and-less-than-one from his own 41. Given how well the defense was playing, that was forgivable, though succeeding on such short yardage could have put the Broncos out of their misery.

The second was more questionable. On the next drive, facing fourth-and-eight from the Denver 36, Reid sent out a struggling Harrison Butker, who missed from 54 yards. Even a made kick would have put Kansas City up six, and the Broncos scored seven shortly after, so the point is not that Butker missed the kick.

 J.J. Watt noted on the broadcast that the analytics say to punt there, which would have forced Denver to drive the length of the field while down 24-21. The other option was to go for it and continue an 11-play drive that had chewed up more than six minutes. Instead, the Chiefs walked away with nothing, and Denver got tremendous field position on the drive that led to the go-ahead touchdown.

Jaylon Moore, Right Tackle

Right tackle Jaylon Moore, who missed last week’s loss to the Seahawks with a concussion, did not have the most glaringly bad game, but he made the worst mistake of any Chiefs lineman. 

Mahomes and the offense got the ball back down four with 1:56 left and marched to the Denver one-yard line with ease. On fourth-and-goal, Mahomes found Rice for what looked like a walk-off touchdown against their biggest rival. 

The play was blown dead before it started, however, because of subtle pre-snap movement from Moore, resulting in a false start. To make matters worse, Moore allowed quick pressure from Denver defensive end Jonathan Cooper on the game-ending play, ending Week 8 in the most dramatic and worst way possible.

The Fourth-Quarter Defense

For three quarters, the defense played about as well as you could ask. The only thing that hindered it was costly penalties that extended drives and led to Denver’s first 13 points. Penalties plagued the Chiefs all afternoon, and the Chiefs were flagged 11 times for 105 yards, with 63 of them on defense alone. 

Then came the fourth quarter. Denver gained 121 yards and scored 15 unanswered points, and on the two game-deciding drives, the Chiefs allowed a 10-yard run, a 22-yard pass, a 14-yard run, and a 51-yard pass. The Broncos entered the day near the bottom of the league in both yards and points, and while the Chiefs looked close to shutting them down as they did in Week 1, they still allowed 28 points in a critical divisional loss.